Along the banks of some lake or stream, sitting idly on a telegraph pole or wire, rising and settling, elevating and depressing his long parted top-knot, a patriarchal old kingfisher may be seen silently awaiting the gleam of a shiner in the water below ([Fig. 182]). Or perhaps you may first see him flying like a big woodpecker, screaming his chattering cry high in the air, or scaling close to the water under the fringing hemlock branches that overhang the stream. His large size, slate-blue back, loud notes, and characteristic flight make him a hard bird to mistake in any case.
There are many other birds which pass us on their way north, but they herald rather the summer than the breaking of spring. The following list of spring migrations is taken from Mr. Chapman's "Handbook of the Birds of Eastern North America," and was compiled for use about New York City. The dates nearly coincide with those I have found about the central part of the State, and are, in the main, only a few days in advance of those for the northern counties. The latter dates in the column are about what may be taken for the middle tier of counties.
It is the earnest hope of the writer that these few very brief sketches may be of use to those interested in entering the delightful field of the study of birds; your experience may and probably will be different from that which I have cited, which only goes to show that everyone must really see for himself, and not only that, but by so doing may make new observations and get new ideas on practically all of even our best known birds. Birds are not, as a rule, hard to watch, and the patience it requires to sit still and "be a stump" long enough for birds to cease noticing you is soon and amply repaid by the new insight into an unknown realm which is sure to follow.
List of Birds Comprising the Spring Migration.
(Until April 20—Approximate.)
(Taken from Chapman's Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America.)
| Date of arrival. | |
|---|---|
| Feb. 15-Mar. 10. | Purple Grackle. |
| Rusty Grackle. | |
| Red-winged Blackbird. | |
| Robin. | |
| Bluebird. | |
| Mar. 10-20 | Woodcock. |
| Phœbe. | |
| Meadow Lark. | |
| Cowbird. | |
| Fox-sparrow. | |
| Mar. 20-31 | Wilson's Snipe. |
| Kingfisher. | |
| Mourning Dove. | |
| Swamp-sparrow. | |
| Field-sparrow. | |
| April 1-10 | Great Blue Heron. |
| Purple Finch. | |
| Vesper-sparrow. | |
| Savanna-sparrow. | |
| Chipping-sparrow. | |
| Tree Swallow. | |
| Myrtle Warbler. | |
| American Pipit. | |
| Hermit Thrush. | |
| April 10-20 | Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. |
| Barn Swallow. | |
| Yellow Palm Warbler. | |
| Pine Warbler. | |
| Louisiana Water Thrush. | |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet. |